Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 444: Battle of Keti City (Special thanks to book friend 2017…5646 for the monthly ticket!)

Yang Ye took out the marching map of the Khwarazm area and observed it for a long time, then suddenly said:

“If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, you won’t catch the tiger’s cubs!

From here to the capital of Khwarezm, Ketik, is only about 800 miles away. With Ketik, Qiewei City and the military forces of various states, Jalal Khan of Khwarezm could mobilize a maximum of 300,000 troops.

If it is a field battle, it will be easy for our army to destroy these 300,000 enemy troops. If the enemy army does not want to fight in the field and wants to attack our army from the east and west under the city of Keti, then I will use the first army to defend the enemy army on the eastern front, and use the second army to quickly capture the city of Keti!

If the capital is conquered, the remaining Khwarezmian troops will be defeated, and I can achieve great success!"

The officers gradually expressed their approval of this combat plan.

The Third Army Commander Wang Gui said:
“This is a risky plan, Governor. Our army’s food and fodder can only last for three months. From here, we will march south to Keti City. Although the enemy cannot stop us in a field battle, they have many artillery pieces and are slow to march, so we will still need more than half a month to march.

We only have two months to conquer Khorezm's capital, Ketim. If we fail to conquer it by then, I'm afraid our army will run out of food and armaments, and we may be wiped out!"

Yang Ye pondered for a moment and said:

"With the 500 pieces of Yansu artillery our army is carrying this time, even if Keti City is strong, we will surely conquer it in March!

As for the food and grass for the entire army, it may not last more than three months, so we should make an emergency decision and borrow it from the homes and fields of the Khwarezm people we pass by!"

Hu Yanbi asked for advice:

"Commander-in-Chief Yang, no! Your Majesty's military discipline strictly prohibits plundering the people's money and property during marches and battles, even if they are civilians from enemy countries, as long as they do not resist our Great Zhou army.

If so, even if my Eighth Corps quickly takes Khwarezm, after the battle, Governor Yang and I will be severely punished by Your Majesty according to military discipline! It is better to report to Your Majesty and wait for the food and grass to arrive before we are safe. "

Yang Ye frowned and said:
"From now on, I will report to Your Majesty and wait for the imperial court to gather all the food and fodder for delivery. Even if it is done quickly, it will take at least three months!
This governor will retire in a year or so. How can he have so much time to wait?
Your Majesty once said that this battle is the final battle of my military career, and I must conquer Khwarezm for Your Majesty! How can I delay any longer?

This matter will be reported to Your Majesty by this governor immediately. I will take full responsibility for everything and will not cause any trouble to the generals!"

Seeing that Yang Ye had made up his mind, the generals in the tent had no choice but to stop trying to persuade him. They immediately received the order and left the tent to begin preparations.

Yang Ye immediately ordered his advisor to write a memorial to Emperor Chai Zongxun to report the situation, and immediately sent the Longxiang Guard to Bian Jing to deliver the letter.

A few hours later, the entire army was fully prepared and set out immediately, marching northward from the plain more than ten miles south of Qiemo City, straight to the capital of Khwarezm, Ket.

When the general of Qiewei City, Muhammad, saw that the Zhou army had abandoned the city and was not attacking it, but was circumventing the city from the south and entering the country, heading straight for the capital city of Keti, he was shocked.

After discussing with his generals, they all knew that if the capital was lost, the morale of the entire Khwarezmian army would be shaken, and King Zalan would definitely punish them severely.

Mahamina left an army of 100,000 to defend Qiemo City, and quickly sent messengers to Keti City to report the military situation to Zalan Khan. He then led an army of 200,000 out of the city and followed the Zhou army, hoping to find an opportunity to fight along the way.

Yang Ye led the Eighth Corps and marched northward, setting up ambushes several times in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the pursuing Muhammad's army, but the soldiers were forced to escape under the command of the cautious and cunning Muhammad.

During the Zhou army's march, Muhammad chose to block the enemy at the top of the hills and valleys, and only fled when the enemy could no longer hold out, delaying the Zhou army for a long time. Yang Ye was furious and ordered the soldiers in charge of collecting food and fodder to "borrow" more food and cattle and sheep from the people of Khwarezm along the way. The amount borrowed, the time of return, and the interest were all clearly written in the IOU.

The people of various states along the way to Khwarezm were suddenly surrounded by a large number of Zhou troops on horseback. They were already scared half to death. They knew that the two countries had been at war for several years, so they thought they were doomed to be invaded by the Zhou army.

Unexpectedly, although these Zhou soldiers looked ferocious, after entering the houses they only took food from the people and drove away the cattle and sheep. They did not even look at the property or women, and left each household with enough food, cattle and sheep for half a year.

The people of Khwarezm were just relieved when they saw the officer in charge of the Great Zhou ordered the secretary to write down the IOU in both Chinese and Turkish languages ​​and handed it to the people, saying:
"Fellow villagers, our Great Zhou Longxiang Army has never harmed any civilians. This time, we are just acting out of urgency. We are borrowing your food, cattle and sheep, and we will return them with interest within half a year!"

These Khwarezmian people had originally thought they were doomed, but now that they saw that the Zhou army did not kill or loot them, they felt lucky.

Now seeing that Zhou Jun even wrote an IOU and gave it to his family, he was half-believing and half-doubting.

Seeing that Zhou Jun had left enough food for several months and had not forced his entire family into despair, faced with Zhou Jun's power, he had no choice but to agree and accept the IOU.

A few days later, Jalal Khan of Khwarezm became panic-stricken after receiving a military intelligence report from his trusted general Muhammad.

After much thought, it was realized that there were no more troops available in the country. If any of the three fronts was breached, the capital would be surrounded.

Zalan Khan had no choice but to order the remaining 100,000 imperial guards to go to the capital's prefectures to seize food and fodder. At the same time, he recruited 300,000 old, weak and sick people from the capital's Keti City to strengthen the city's defense day and night.

Yang Ye led the Eighth Corps and marched for nearly a month under the interference of the 200,000-strong army of Muhammad of Khwarezm. It took them nearly a month to cover a distance of more than 800 miles. On November 10, the 32nd year of Kaixi, they arrived at the city of Keti.

Seeing that the city was filled with defenders and weapons, and the city walls also showed a lot of signs of new reinforcement, Yang Ye knew that Zalan Khan did not dare to fight a decisive battle, and decided to hold on and wait for help.

After discussing with the generals, Yang Ye immediately chose a place with slightly higher terrain two miles south of the gate of Keti City to set up a large camp. Wang Gui's troops of the Third Army were used to guard against the pursuing troops such as Mokomo, while Zhe Weixing of the First Army and Huyan Biqiu of the Second Army used 500 "Yansu Cannons" to attack the city with all their strength.

Once the "Battle of Koti City" began, the fighting became extremely fierce.

The next day, Muhammad's 200,000 troops arrived from the south and launched a non-stop attack on the Zhou army camp in order to rescue their country's capital.

When Zalan Khan in the city saw the reinforcements arriving, he wanted to use his own military advantage to attack the Zhou army from both sides, so he sent 50,000 imperial guards out of the city to cooperate with Mahawi's army to attack the Zhou army camp.

However, under the dense firepower attack of the 2,000 tiger-crouching cannons deployed around the Zhou army's camp, the Khwarezmian army's offensives were repelled for several consecutive days, and in fact suffered casualties of 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers.

Seeing that the Zhou army's firearms were so powerful and that nearly 2 of the imperial guards returning to the city were killed, Zhalan dared not send any more troops out of the city. He only ordered his soldiers to hold the city, hoping that the isolated Zhou army would run out of food and collapse.

Both sides fought hard for their own military objectives, but after all, the Great Zhou had powerful artillery and sufficient finances, so the firearms and ammunition carried by Yang Ye's Eighth Corps were sufficient.

Finally, five months later, on April 17th of the 33rd year of Kaixi, Huyan Biqiu led his soldiers to attack Keti City through the gap in the city wall.

After five days of street fighting in the city, the Eighth Army annihilated a total of 210,000 enemy troops inside and outside the city, captured 80,000 and took full control of the city of Keti.

(End of this chapter)